The Goldstone Report accuses us of not being ethical in war. If this is so, it is good news. It is a sign that the Messiah has arrived. As is known, the Messiah is accused of the exact same thing as it is written in the prophet Yeshayahu (63:1-6):"Who is this coming from Edom, from Botzrah, with his garments stained red?" –The Messiah's clothes are stained with blood."This one that is gloriously dressed, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save" – The Messiah says: What can I do? I have a role: to save people."Why are your garments red, like those treading the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, no one was with me from the nations" – Why are my clothes full of blood? Because I am alone. No one is helping me. You are attacking us for what we did in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. Where have you been the last sixty years? Where were you during all of the wars and terror? Why didn't you yell out? Why didn't you yell when they were shooting rockets and mortars from Gaza for eight years straight? We did not have a choice but to protect ourselves. Therefore "I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath. Their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing" – I was victorious and blood spattered on my clothing from the victory."For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come" – How long can we wait? How long can we suffer? How long can we sit and not respond?"I looked, but there was no one to help. I was astonished that no one gave support" – When they strike us, no one cares, but when we protect ourselves, it is a scandal.I am therefore letting you know "’My own arm brought salvation for me, and my own fury has sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger, made them drunk with my fury, and I poured their blood on the ground.’"If so, the Messiah has arrived. In the Exile, the non-Jews struck us, murdered us and expelled us and we were not able to respond like a sheep among seventy wolves. But the sheep now has the strength to respond and attack the wolves. But people say: these are not the rules of the game. The sheep needs to be attacked. The victim is guilty. If there wasn't a sheep, the wolf would not eat him.We are therefore telling the world that we are a Nation that desires life. We also desired life in the Exile, but we had little choice. We now have the choice and we choose to protect ourselves. After all, we are talking about war and we are protecting our brothers. The enemy places weapons among the civilian population: in schools and ambulances and shoots. The enemy uses the civilian population as human shields. What can we do?Colonel Richard Kemp, a British colonel who has spent many years fighting terror, testified before the committee that there were civilian casualties and errors in the war in Gaza but the State of Israel acted to prevent civilian casualties more than any army in history. He said that Tzahal sent two million fliers and hundreds of thousands of text messages warning people where attacks would take place. This is similar to what King Shaul said to the "Keni" (Shmuel 1 15:6): "Go, depart, go down from among Amalek, lest I destroy you with them." This means, even though you are my friend, if you are there, you could get hurt or killed. Tzahal canceled hundreds of missions to avoid civilian deaths. They also brought huge quantities of humanitarian aid. There is no parallel in history. It is possible that there were errors, but one must remember that the essential purpose of the war was to protect our brothers, women and child who are free of transgression.We are a Nation who loves peace and pursues peace but when forced to wage war, we will fight. Esav loved to wage war: "You will live by the sword" (Bereshit 27:40). We do not live by the sword but we need the sword. This is called: "The clothing of Esav." When there is no choice, we wear the traits of Esav. But there are people in Gaza who are Esav. We saw what happened in Gush Katif. We left there at an incredibly high price: we expelled eight thousand Jews, we destroyed so many families, many of whom have yet to be rehabilitated and we made a huge gap in the Nation. And from the time we have left, they have not built one house or planted one tree. They have sunk all of their money into war. This says that people there think it is more important to murder us than to build their own lives. We therefore have no choice but to wage war.The Nation of Israel is long-suffering, but we sometimes cannot suffer any longer. The Nation – those on the right and the left – were united that we could no longer take it and we know it was a just war. All of the deceivers did not see the events in their context, they did not take into account all that we did and what others do in the world. And what is the result? It unites the Nation of Israel. The enemy – whether with weapon or word – brings us closer together. Thus the Messiah has arrived who protects the Nation of Israel and unites us.

Mission Statement

To Enrich the spiritual life of the English-speaking World through the Torah of Ha-Rav Shlomo Aviner, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. By offering English translations of Rav Aviner’s written and oral Torah, this division of the yeshiva aims to expose English speakers to a powerful, sensitive and poetic voice unparalleled in our time. His unfailing optimism, his tolerance and love all Jews, his guidance for harmony within the Jewish family and his dedication to Eretz Yisrael, the State of Israel and Tzahal will inspire and enrich the lives of all who may now have access to his words.